If your mother has had this discussion with her surgery and they both agree that this is the best thing, there may be no reason for you to try to talk her out of it. If you're concerned about the surgery, you could try to convince your mother to go for a second opinion to A) see if the surgery would help and B) if the second surgeon would do the same type of surgery or maybe suggest another one.

That's a good question. Replacing damaged bone with healthy bone isn't a new idea and in one way, it's done already.

Recently, a researcher, B.K. Weiner, published an article that focused on back pain being deemed biopsychosocial, related to biology, psychology, and social aspects of life. He combined this with the heuristic approach, which means problem solving for the most appropriate solution one step at a time, not necessarily the best solution.

All surgeries, even the most minor, carry a risk of complications. Spinal surgery has these risks and a few others because of the location and the complexity of the surgeries.

Many adults undergo surgery to correct spinal deformities like your mothers. The surgeries are called osteotomies and involve removing bone from the spine and, if needed, lengthening it in some areas.

When a surgeon evaluates the type of surgery that may be needed, he or she does take into account the patient's horizontal gaze, which is how the person is able to look straight ahead, with the gaze parallel to the floor.

Adults who need spinal deformities corrected can present a problem for surgeons because of the inflexibility of most of the deformities. There are many deformities that need this type of correction, ranging scoliosis (curvature of the spine, side to side) and different types of arthritis in the spine. that can result in hyperkyphosis (humped back or rounded back).

Every year, physicians involved in treating spine patients come together at the Spine Society's Annual Meeting. Experts in the field bring information and updates on studies done in a wide variety of topics. In this report, six areas of interest were reviewed, summarized, and presented. A brief recap of these six areas is offered below:

1) Assessing Psychologic Factors in Spine Patients

Burst fractures occur as a result of a compressive load down through the spine. The vertebra shatters into tiny pieces. Bone fragments can get lodged into nearby tissues, including the spinal canal and the spinal cord inside the canal.

Actually, you've missed a few terms! A herniated disc can be called a slipped disc, bulging disc, ruptured disc, or even a pinched nerve, all depending on the person. They all mean the same thing, but why there are so many names for it isn't known.

Only you and your doctor can decide if you should have back surgery, but there are some things you can discuss to help you make your decision.